Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe created by Rebecca Sugar.
Chapter 22
Wira was in a lab with Tal, Mai, Bryx, and Claire helping her. She was looking at different screens when the door opened.
"Red, can this wait? I'm in the middle of something." said Wira not even looking at who entered.
"Actually, it's me." said Melena. Wira turned her head. "Melena, this is a pleasant surprise.
'I anticipated he would be back to tell me I was wrong or something like that. Then again the two of you are….close.
'It would wise for you to talk to me than him. I mean, out of the two of you, you're the only one that sees reason.
'Also, let me guess. The reason Mal is not with you is that he's with Ichigo helping Red calm down through sparing.
'Honestly, you can do so much better." said Wira. "All true. As for the last part, I see the same thing that you see in-" started Melena.
"DON'T YOU DARE UTTER THAT NAME IN HERE NOT COMPARE OUR RELATIONSHIP TO YOURS!" interrupted Wira.
Both Malena and Wira were stunned by that outburst. Tal, Mai, Bryx, and Claire flinched a little at it.
"R-right. Just a slip of tongue." "Y-yes. It happens to everyone. What was it that you needed?"
"Are you sure, that was a wise course of action? I mean letting them go and even take...that ship." said Melena.
Wira let out a sigh. "As I explained it before. It was the best course of action to put a rift in their relationship and separate them.
'Also, there was no way we could even use that ship. It would've done us no good." said Wira.
"If you say so." "Now there you go." "What do you mean?" asked Melena.
"Second guessing my plans like him. The two of you need to have faith. Now come" said Wira heading for the door.
Tal, Mai, Bryx, and Claire followed after her. "Where exactly are we going?" asked Melena.
"To clear all of this up." Wira begins to walk down a hallway with the other following her.
She was about to enter a room when yelling was heard further down. Wira then turned her attention in that direction.
'What is he doing near the landing bay?' thought Wira. They soon saw Red yelling at Amethyst that was cowering.
"What is going here?" said Wira as they walked up toward him. "This Amysthes claim she received orders from a Topaz to gather recordings of our meeting with them." said Red.
Wira looked at the Amethyst before speaking. "Did she get any of it?" "No. I stopped her before she could."
"Tal, Mai take care of things in our labs. Bryx, Claire take care of any and all recordings.
'When you finish, go and find Ichigo and Mal and bring them back here." said Wira. The four of them nodded before quickly leaving to do as they were told.
Wira walked over to a control panel and began typing something in. "What are you doing?" asked Melena.
"Trying to find the recording of this incident to find out why this Amethyst is saying this."
A screen came up as many different footages from different angles came up. She focused on two specific one and blew them up.
On one screen it showed Melena in Wira's lab with her, in another, it showed Melena talking to the Amethyst at the same exact time.
"H-how is that possible?" asked Melena. "That is an excellent question. That gem has the same cut and gem placement as yours.
'I understand if it one of our creation shapeshifted but they can't change their gem like that.
'Also the other Topazas don't have cuts like ours. Where did that Topaz go off to?"
"Th-they went off looking for you and Red sir." said Amethyst. The screen all suddenly turned gray with static.
"What happened to the recordings?!" said Red. "I had my Pearls destroy every video footage and all of our data." said Wira.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! ALL OUR HARD WORK IS NOW DOWN THE DRAIN?!"
"Relax. I always have backups programmed into our ships. That's why I constantly ask for access to them.
'Also, when the Amethyst said a Topaz gave them orders to retrieve our data, I figured someone high ranking wants everything that we have.
'They won't get it that easily." explained Wira. The screens began to show current monitoring of the base.
Wira was about to close it when one screen caught her eye. She blew it up and her eyes widened.
On it, it showed all of the hybrids facing three figures. Red turned to the Amethyst.
"WHO ARE THEY AND DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOMEONE CAME TO OUR BASE?!" roared Red.
The Amethyst was trembling and she struggled to come up with an answer. "Red calm down.
'It's obvious she didn't know of their presence. Also, they look almost like us, so they have to be Topazes as well." said Wira.
"But I thought we were only ones like that." said Melena. "Red? That's a funny name Ares." said a voice.
The three of them quickly turned around while the Amethyst backed away. They saw a figure with long wavy candy pink hair in a top half bun, light pink skin, and was wearing a cherry blossom pink ball gown like dress, the front skirt was open to reveal thigh high charm pink boots.
What drew the trio's attention was the pink Topaz gem over their stomach.
Wira glared at her. "Who are you and hear are you doing here?!" questioned Wira.
The figure merely laughs at that. "he did want me that you would be like that. But I'm more interested in you, Red.
'Why did you change your name? I mean our Diamond took the time make us and even give us names.
'It is sad that she's gone but by changing your name, it's as though you moved on and forgot about her." said the figure.
Red was about to charge but Wira held a hand up to stop him. "What are you doin?!" said Red.
"Go and help the others. As soon as you get back, we're getting out of here." said Wira.
"Why?" asked Melena. "I'll explain later, just go." Melena and Red looked at each other before taking off.
"Not that wasn't nice. I wanted to talk to all of you at once." said the figure. "Oh don't worry." said Wira.
She summoned two whips and used on to destroy the control panel she was just using.
"You'll be talking alright, starting with your name!" Wira's went forward, the figure jumped to the side to dodge it.
"Sure, if survive long enough to know it. Just like his name, mine has the same meaning. Our diamond gave me the name Bellona." said the figure.
Her gem glowed as he pulled a french rose pink handle and puce pink edges. On on the edge of the whip was pink diamond pendant connected by a small white rope.
Wira flicked her whips as electricity began to surround it. Bellona only smirked as a red and white flame came from the handle making a whip.
Red and Melena rushed into a large room. They saw three figures in front of their creations.
"Ah, so it seems you've finally arrived. You must be wondering who we are. I am known as Erwin.
'To the left of me Vishala and to my right is Taji. We are your replacements." said one of the figures.
The figure known as Erwin had bone white hair that slicked back, cream white skin, and wore a black suit, a cornsilk shirt, black tie with a white diamond, and seashell white dress shoes.
The figure known as Vishala had azure blue colored skin, long white hair with two long strands extending downwards framing either side of face entwines each other like a caduceus' snake that rested upon their chest, and wore a long midnight blue dress that reached the floor.
The figure known as Taji had maximum yellow hair in a man bun, lemon yellow colored skin, and wore a yellow body length suit with a hood, and mellow yellow boots.
"JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SAYING THAT?!" roared Red. Erwin let out a sigh before rubbing his temples.
"I see. So she has to deal one as well. Explaining everything would just be lost on you."
"Can we just get this over with." said Taji. "Of course." said Erwin. Vishala, Taji, and Erwin's gems began to glow.
Everyone reached toward their gems. " If I share this with you, never speak a word " sang Vishala.
Red and Melena were about to summon their weapons but stopped when they saw the hybrids shaking.
'What is going on.' though Melena. " Take a moment to remember your past, before you lose your mind " sang Erwin.
Mal and Ichigo collapsed while Tal, Mai, Bryx, and Claire held their sides. Red and Melena rushed to their sides.
" Memories black and white, hide behind our work cause every year passing takes a part of us " sang Taji.
Mal and Ichigo's hands started to change into a claw and Tal, Mai, Bryx, and Claire's legs began to become bird like.
" Smiling faces, empty hands, why can't we live without her. This past is haunting us, we wish it'll go away
' You rebel just because you could, shattering everyone that we ever loved " sang Erwin, Taji, and Vishala.
Red and Melena could only stare, not knowing what to do as they became corrupted. As it began to spread, it suddenly stopped before receding.
The effects left them unconscious. "It seems you were right." said Taji. "What did you do?" questioned Red as he about to summon his weapon.
Melena held grabbed his wrist. He looked at her and she shook her head. Red grinded his teeth.
Melena held up her hand and a large divider came down. The pair went over and picked up the hybrids.
One under each arm and the third on their shoulder. The pair hurried back to the landing bay.
"Who or what do they are? They're Topazes like us but can use corruption like the Diamonds." said Melena.
"No clue." said Red. 'Is this why she wanted to us go? Did she know they could corrupted gems and why didn't it affect us?' thought Red.
When they made it to the landing bay, Wira was standing next to her ship. Off to the side, Bellona was tied up in Wira's whip unconscious.
Around her where poofed gems. Wira looked up to see them coming. When she saw the hybrids being carried, she quickly went toward them and to Tal and Bryx.
"We're leaving now." said Wira as the three of them rushed toward their ships. As they started their ships up, a large explosion was heard.
The trio quickly moved their ships off the base before a small black orb appeared above them.
The ships vanished at a high speed before reappearing over a large field of strawberries on Earth.
They landed their ships on the shore. Red and Melena came out of their ships but Wira still remained hers but the gangway was down.
The pair walked toward it. "What do you think she's got cooking up?" asked Melena.
"After that happened, there's no telling." said Red. When they went in they say Tal and Bryx laying to the side.
The chair in the middle was out of place so the pair went down the stairs. 'She didn't even meet up. How bad could this be?' thought Melena.
When they made it to the bottom they Wira looking at a multitude of different screens and had four different holographic keyboards around her.
They could slightly make out her mumbling no. "So what's the new game plan?" asked Red.
Wira didn't say anything nor showed any signs of acknowledging their presence. "Hey, don't you hear me?!"
"Red, please. Wira?" said Melena. Wira still didn't say anything. Red walked next to her. Wira still didn't show any signs of acknowledging their presence.
It wasn't until Red waved his hand in front of her face did, she take notice. "Red, Melena, when did you two get here?" said Wira.
"We've been here for some time. You've never took notice us." answered Melena.
"Oh, I didn't notice. I was..preoccupied." "That's an understatement. Haven't seen you like since we started making the hybrids." said Red.
"If only our situation was as simple as then." said Wira. "How bad is it?" asked Melena.
"Bad? That's taking our situation lightly. Those new Topazes were our replacements. A sapphire predicted that a set of Topazes would rebel against them, so the Diamonds made two sets of us.
'When I think about it, it makes sense. Their appearance matches their respective Diamond almost exactly.
'Even the ability to corrupt gems are like the Diamonds. Since Blue and we were acting on our own to take down the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds more than likely saw that we rebelled against them.
'So they sent them to more than likely get rid of us. That would explain why that Amethyst was trying to get all of our data.
'They more than likely wanted to know what we knew. This messes everything and we're on the wrong side." explained Wira.
"What do you mean?" asked Red. "Since we were replaced, we are now fugitives and enemies of Homeworld.
'We damage the bond the Crystal Gems had with one another so they won't trust us. As much as I hate it, we have no choice but to try to become their allies." said Wira.
"WHAT?! YOU'VE GOTTA BE JOKING?!" yelled Red. "Red, if she brought that up then that's our only option.
'Homeworld has a large army and we have limited resources. The Crystal Gems may have fewer numbers but at least those are a few more we have to go into battle with." said Melena.
Red grinded his teeth knowing that was their only option.
A/N: The song featured is a parody of the songs Real Life and Cartouche